Latest Steam Client Beta Update Adds Big Art Mode, New Screensavers, and More

Valve has released a new Steam Client Beta update that brings several changes to Big Picture Mode, Steam Input, Game Recording, Remote Play and more. The update also improves Steam’s startup performance and fixes several bugs across Windows and Linux.

Big Picture mode gets a visual upgrade

One of the biggest additions is Big Art Mode, a new option for the Big Picture home screen that puts more emphasis on game artwork. Valve has also added Personal Calendar to the Recommended tab.

Big Picture Mode is getting another notable addition with customizable screensavers. Users can choose between a game-art slideshow featuring recently played games and recent screenshots, or a retro-inspired bouncing Steam logo.

Valve now also allows users to add custom screensavers manually, similar to Steam’s startup movies.

Image credit: Valve

Steam input and performance improvements

The update improves Steam Input’s CPU performance during runtime and configuration loading. Valve has also added clearer information about compatible controller configurations and fixed several controller-related issues.

Steam’s Game Recording feature receives performance improvements for some Direct3D 12 games on Windows, while fixes address playback jumping to the wrong point in recordings.

The In-Game Overlay also gets fixes for frame-rate hitches when taking screenshots in D3D11 and D3D12 games, along with improvements for Vulkan titles using multiple windows.

More Steam client improvements

Valve has improved Steam’s startup performance and fixed several connection and restart issues. On Linux, the update improves download speeds on high-latency connections and makes the compatibility-tool selector easier to use.

Remote Play also gets a useful change: a PIN is no longer required to download an app to a remote device, although a PIN is still needed to install and stream from that device. Valve is also adding download-complete notifications for remote downloads initiated from the current device.

In case you missed, Ubisoft is also finally allowing Steam players ditch the separate Ubisoft Connect launcher. Meanwhile, Valve has introduced a new age-verification system verification in Australia that locks access to R18+ game pages behind age verification.